Shasta County Cattlemen's Association

08/25/2026

Collaborators across the north state are coming together to offer "Less than Lethal" training workshops for livestock producers ranching in wolf country. There are several workshops planned throughout September and early October. Registration is required and includes classroom and live fire training. Please register here for Alturas and Susanville or contact your local UCCE Livestock Advisor for locations near you or if you have questions. https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=49807

08/25/2026

The California Cattlemen’s Association strongly opposes the Administration’s proposal to temporarily allow up to 300,000 metric tons of additional ground beef product to enter the U.S. tariff-free.

Since learning of the proposal, CCA has been actively engaged with members of Congress, our national cattle industry partners and the White House to communicate the potential consequences for American cattle producers.

We share the goal of keeping beef affordable for American families—but increasing imports is not the answer.

America’s cattle herd is at historically low levels. After years of drought, wildfire, rising costs and other challenges, today’s market is finally providing ranchers the opportunity to reinvest in their operations and begin rebuilding the herd.

If we want more affordable and abundant American beef in the years ahead, we need policies that encourage American ranchers to produce more cattle—not policies that increase our reliance on foreign beef.

CCA will remain actively engaged in Washington and continue advocating for California cattle producers as additional details become available.

08/25/2026

CDFW continues to recognize 12 wolf packs in California, with at least 25 pups documented this year.

08/25/2026

You’ve probably heard it all over social media and in national media the last few days: “We can’t rebuild the American cattle herd by importing more beef.”

But why?

A cattle producer deciding to expand doesn’t make more beef tomorrow. We retain heifers, breed them, wait for them to calve, and then raise those calves. That means years of investment before more beef reaches consumers.

So what makes a producer willing to take that risk? Confidence in future cattle prices.

Today’s stronger cattle prices should be sending producers a signal: We need more cattle. Expand.

But when tight domestic supplies are answered with more lower-cost imported beef, that signal can change.

Our beef supply chain is multisegmented and highly concentrated. More lower-cost imported beef gives multinational packers another source of supply and can reduce demand for beef produced from domestic cattle. That pressure works its way back to the cow-calf producer, the very person deciding whether to rebuild the herd.

If producers believe imports will continue increasing whenever domestic supplies tighten and cattle prices rise, they have less confidence that today’s market opportunity will still exist when their investment reaches the market.

Meanwhile, cheaper inputs for packers do not necessarily translate into cheaper beef at the grocery store. Packers can have access to a cheaper source of beef while the consumer continues paying what the market will bear.

And without mandatory country-of-origin labeling, consumers generally can’t distinguish cheaper imported beef from beef produced from American cattle at the grocery store. American cattle producers are expected to compete against lower-cost foreign production without even having the ability to differentiate their product in their own domestic market.

That’s how record imports can fail to solve either problem: Consumers can continue paying record beef prices while cattle producers lack the market signal needed to rebuild.

So what do we do?
1. Restore transparency.
Bring back mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef. If imported beef is cheaper, label it. Let consumers decide what they want to buy.

2. Restore producer confidence.
Implement tariff-rate quotas that give American producers the opportunity to rebuild without fearing that their years-long investment will be undercut by excessive imports.

3. Restore competition.
Address unpriced forward-type contracts that allow multinational packers to acquire cattle without establishing a negotiated base price, further reducing competition for cattle.

American ranchers are not begging to be saved. We’re begging to be let into the fight.

Read R-CALF USA’s full analysis:https://www.r-calfusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/260821-Revised-Response-to-Increased-Imports.pdf

08/25/2026

Email [email protected] and let us know what your shipping, so that we can give the good folks Orland Livestock Commission Yard a heads up on how many to expect.
Mark your yellow slips on the top with
“SCCA MEMBER” at drop off

08/21/2026

R-CALF USA Responds to Reported Plan to Facilitate More Beef Imports by Relaxing Tariffs

WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 21, 2026 – President Donald Trump announced today on Truth Social that he plans to allow up to 300,000 metric tons of beef intended for ground beef production to enter the United States without the out-of-quota tariff for 90 days. The president said the plan is intended to lower beef prices for consumers while providing time for the U.S. cattle herd to rebuild.

In response, R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard released the following statement:

“Increasing imports doubles down on a failed strategy that has substituted foreign beef for rebuilding domestic production. Beef imports have already risen to record levels while retail beef prices continued climbing and the U.S. cattle herd continued shrinking. More imports will continue providing multinational beef packers and retailers with cheaper supplies, but they have not resulted in lower beef costs for consumers.

“Most importantly, this policy undermines the producer confidence necessary to rebuild the U.S. cattle herd. Herd expansion takes years. Producers deciding whether to retain heifers today must have confidence that future cattle prices will justify that investment. Responding to cattle prices that finally encourage expansion with more lower-cost imported beef sends exactly the wrong signal.

“We urge the administration to reconsider this approach and instead restore competition in cattle markets, implement import controls that provide producers the confidence and market opportunity to rebuild the domestic herd, and restore mandatory country of origin labeling so consumers can distinguish American beef from imported beef.

“We share the goal of rebuilding America's cattle herd. But we cannot rebuild America's domestic beef supply chain by increasing our dependency on foreign beef.”

Read R-CALF USA's full response explaining how the reported import plan could affect U.S. cattle producers, herd expansion, consumer beef prices and long-term food security here:https://www.r-calfusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/260821-Revised-Response-to-Increased-Imports.pdf

08/19/2026

08/16/2026

U.S. CATTLE REPORT 📉 U.S. Beef Production: Lowest Since 2015 — 5th Lowest Since 2000 — 1.32 Billion Lbs. Below Average 📉

U.S. beef production for 2026 is projected at 25.035 billion pounds in the August WASDE report, down 321 million pounds from the July estimate.

The reduction comes as steer and heifer slaughter is expected to slow through the end of the year. Cow slaughter is also projected lower for the remainder of the year, further reducing expected beef production.

If realized, 2026 would mark the lowest U.S. beef production since 2015 and the 5th-lowest annual production since 2000.

Only four years since 2000 have produced less beef than the current 2026 projection:

• 2015 — 23.847 billion lbs.
• 2014 — 24.416 billion lbs.
• 2005 — 24.952 billion lbs.
• 2004 — 24.826 billion lbs.

Those are also the only four years since 2000 that U.S. beef production has fallen below 25 billion pounds.

For perspective, production reached its highest levels in 2021 and 2022, totaling 28.074 billion pounds in 2021 before climbing to a period-high 28.418 billion pounds in 2022.

From 2000 through the projected 2026 total, U.S. beef production has averaged approximately 26.36 billion pounds annually.

At 25.035 billion pounds, the 2026 projection would be roughly 1.32 billion pounds below that average, highlighting just how significant the expected decline in U.S. beef production has become.

U.S. BEEF PRODUCTION — BILLION LBS.

2027 (P) — 25.048
2026 (P) — 25.035
2025 — 26.071
2024 — 27.051
2023 — 27.086
2022 — 28.418
2021 — 28.074
2020 — 27.313
2019 — 27.304
2018 — 27.020
2017 — 26.330
2016 — 25.369
🔻 2015 — 23.847
🔻 2014 — 24.416
2013 — 25.906
2012 — 26.114
2011 — 26.407
2010 — 26.530
2009 — 26.202
2008 — 26.808
2007 — 26.669
2006 — 26.411
🔻 2005 — 24.952
🔻 2004 — 24.826
2003 — 26.541
2002 — 27.397
2001 — 26.418
2000 — 27.112

🔻 = Lower production than projected for 2026
(P) = Projection

08/16/2026

A controversial measure to study and develop a roadmap for bringing grizzly bears back to California has effectively died for the year

08/13/2026

Save the Date!